A year has now passed as the goodbyes for Bruce are still on the lips and in the hearts of his dearest friends. We have all had to deal with grief for other dear ones that have passed on and we somehow gradually accepted their deaths, but with Bruce, this is hardly the case. On any given day, we expect to hear the phone ring, or to hear Bruce knock out a drum beat on the front door, and then (like we were really listening) ask from what song did this beat originate (this was trivia Bruce at his best), or to get his emails with the hardest to find Beatles or Hendrix bootlegs added as attachments whenever possible. Bruce may have passed on in his flesh, but his spirit still sparks life in each and every one of us at least once or twice a day.
I was driving home the other night from a session, just aimlessly changing stations on the radio, when out of nowhere a ferocious drum beat did catch my attention!! I thought how freakin' cool the groove was. Of course, I knew it was "My Sharona", but for a moment, I heard the song without personal attachment (not at all easy) and pretended to have the same innocence and neutrality that most listeners do. The song has a catchy hook, but what an amazing f***in' drummer propelled this song.
It's one thing when you lose a relationship with a friend without any creative connection, but quite another when you have albums, world tours, endless bus rides, plane flights you swore would never land, my marriage, the birth of my three children, the healing services when arthritis was like a plague upon him, the miracle healing of his girlfriend after every doctor's report said she would never walk again and countless other life dramas that forged an eternal bond between us!!
BRUCE IS EVER WITH ME!!
I don't know how, but thank God that "It Is". Tears come and go when I think of Bruce. I can't say for sure that Bruce is in a far better place, for this sounds like a pat answer to help us deal with the pain. I do know that my dear friend is no longer a lunch away, a jam away or a laugh away. Bruce's spirit is free and certainly he made God's backstage VIP list (how could he not?). Actually, I would like to think that Bruce is now center stage with all the world revolving around him. He more than deserves it, and for my money, he always did!!
Peace and love for my friend and band mate.
Prescott